The Bottom Feeders: Moves You Never Use and Why.

[Februs]

Abyssal Drain spam is almost exactly the same than Unleash spam in terms of potency-per-MP.

I actually wonder about this. I've always been curious how the enmity gen compares between these two moves, because I've seen instances where one tank was using Abyssal Drain and losing hate, while another used the exact same amount of Unleashes and kept aggro just fine. I've even been in A2 with a second Drk and run into problems. They used AD. I used Unleash. I held hate over them on most mobs and had a better Mp conservation... The Mp conservation thing was easy enough to explain (I most likely, didn't use as many DA's), but I couldn't figure out why I was dominating in Aggro. I don't think our gear levels were all that different (not enough to make a big discrepancy), so I've always been under the assumption that AD just has lower enmity gen than unleash.

[Freyyy]

I actually wonder about this. I've always been curious how the enmity gen compares between these two moves

Abyssal Drain and Unleash both generate the exact same enmity. Unleash is 100 x6 and AD is 120 x5. The ONLY difference is the damage you deal. When everything is gathered properly you SHOULD be spamming AD instead of Unleash in order to deal maximum AoE damage. If other DRKs are losing enmity to you, they either were using less STR than you, or just didn't SPAM the move but just used it very VERY sparingly. Unleash should ONLY be useful in the case you NEED to hit everything AROUND you instead of around your target, OR if you are in the middle of a combo and need snap AoE enmity.

[Februs]

If other DRKs are losing enmity to you, they either were using less STR than you, or just didn't SPAM the move but just used it very VERY sparingly.

Firstly, thank you for the insight on the enmity generation. I'll be less concerned over using it now.

In terms of my example, it was actually the opposite. HE was spamming, and I was rotating combos in-between my unleashes. The guy flatlined his Mp in under a minute trying to keep aggro from me, which is why I got so confused. I figured he would be generating WAY more than me, but I kept everything (and it hurt). Maybe the difference was because of Power Slash, though, not unleash. I'm pretty sure our gear was mostly the same, but our rotations were different. My rotation went something like:

Unleash > T1-Hard Sash > T2- Spinning Slash > Unleash > T3 Power Slash > T3-Hard Slash > T1-Siphon Blade > Unleash > T2- Soul Eater> Etc. The exact positions of the unleashes might have been a little different, but same diff more or less. Basically, I used an Unleash after every 2nd to 3rd combo strike.

So, from what you're saying, I can only assume that the enmity gen from Abyssal Drain is not enough to trump a Hard Slash/Unleash combination... Which leads me to another question. Wouldn't that make Unleash a better alternative anyway? I'm basing this question off of the sheer fact that Abyssal Drain kills your combo, whereas Unleash does not. Obviously, Abyssal Drain still has it's perks, and I typically use it when I have 4 or more targets to hold enmity on (for the benefits of dmg + Hp regen... though only if I have a way of gaining back the tremendous MP drain it does when under DA), but if holding enmity is your primary concern, or if you need to mitigate using mana regen (siphon blade) and hp regen (soul eater), wouldn't unleash be more useful?

[Freyyy]

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The weapon also does a lot. If the guy had a weapon with 5-10 ilvl less than you with the exact same gear everywhere else, it's normal that you kept agro. Maybe he wasn't using Grit either and his intent was just to do pure AoE DPS ? There is a lot of factors that can come to mind. But anyway, keeping aggro in this game is incredibly easy and shouldn't be your primary concern anymore once it is established. Spamming AD generates more than enough enmity to keep aggro against any big AoE DPS jobs in the game WHILE being the best AoE DPS rotation you can do as a DRK. The only combos you have to rotate as a DRK in AoE situations are Syphon Strike combos when Blood Price is down and your MP starts to get low after some neat Abyssal Drain spam (when BP is down, you should be able to use DADarkPassenger + DADarkDance, drop Grit, use Blood Weapon, and start single targetting till you're back at full MP, do some extra ADs, put Grit back on when blind + Dark Dance falls off, BP will be up again by this time if mobs aren't killed, that's the ideal unlimited-pornstar-AoE-DPS-tanking rotation for DRK).

[Februs]

The weapon also does a lot. If the guy had a weapon with 5-10 ilvl less than you with the exact same gear everywhere else, it's normal that you kept agro.

It was probably the weapon then. He was in Grit (and actually asked me why I had such high enmity gen, to which I answered: "I just push buttons..."), but, at the time, I had the hive weapon and I'm pretty sure he was still rocking the 175-180 Law weapon. So, that must have made the difference.

As for your AoE spam rotation, I'll definitely give this a shot. I'm typically shy on using AD because the Mp cost is so high, but if this works well then I may revise my Mob tanking method. I typically carried over a lot of habits from Pld (rotating targets on primary combo to hold enmity is pretty common and required given the low enmity gen of Flash and RoH), so it has been a learning experience to use AoE spams as a means of holding aggro.

[Freyyy]

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Try it during mass pulls, it's wonderful. Don't bother doing such a rotation for 3-4 mobs. Don't forget to weave your other dCDs and oGCDs while doing it, and you'll feel very good.

[MagiusNecros]

Try it during mass pulls, it's wonderful. Don't bother doing such a rotation for 3-4 mobs. Don't forget to weave your other dCDs and oGCDs while doing it, and you'll feel very good.

Listen to this. Abyssal Drain on mass pulls is simply amazing when combined with Blood Price. I'd only ever use AD on huge pulls. I leave Unleash for the smaller stuff. With stuff giving you MP back and you see your health drop is when you pop a DA AD and watch your health go straight up.

It's like one of the few abilities where I actually feel like an actual Dark Knight.

[Neophyte]

As a SMN: Tri-Bind, except for PvP.

Blizzard 2 has

• more potency (50 instead of 30)
• a shorter cast (2,5s instead of 3s)
• is an 5y area-effect (instead of only 3y tri-bind) and
• costs less mana (707mp to 884mp)

"Downsides" are only that it binds for 8s (instead of 20s) and that it's not a ranged attack.
But since your close anyway on big pulls for miasma 2, so... yeah.
I think the only time I use this skill is, when everyone died except me in a dungeon and i start running towards the new spawned tank.. swiftcast+tri-bind+sprint and go.